DA in Arda
by linda.jenner
Summary: An explosion in the Great Hall leaves Hermione on a cliff edge. Who is there? Where is there? Why are they there? Questions, questions, questions. Now to work out the answers.


The explosion shattered the Great Hall and showered those waiting in the Entrance Courtyard in debris. Screams weren't heard, though. No, these people had seen War as it truly was, the rain of stone and the echoing boom that rose above them, was nothing compared to the screams and moans of tortured children and innocent lives.

Kingsley Shacklebolt sighed, before sending Hagrid into the ruins of the Hall.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, if I may have your attention, please?" He pressed his wand to his throat so as to be clearly heard. "Thank you. Healers and first attenders, if you would make your way to the Quad and the under Clock Tower areas. Please set up a triage area, a waiting area and an information desk. Pomona Sprout? You're in charge of the triage area, I know you have your first attender's certificates. Molly Weasley? The waiting area is yours, I think that quite a few people would benefit from your motherly experience. Ginevra Weasley? The information desk, please? I know you want to help, but that leg won't let you move about on uneven ground and you're one of the few who know for certain, just who was in the Hall. Augusta Longbottom? If you could assist Miss Weasley? The attendance lists are here, please take them, and if people would approach you, in a mannerly fashion please, we can get an accurate list of the missing and those injured. Ron Weasley? Please gather up a few men and get started on locating the missing, but don't forget to let Lady Longbottom have their names, first." People sighed and made their way to take up familiar tasks.

Kingsley hoped he hadn't lost the only fighters the Light had left, but expectations weren't high. An enclosed space, an Order briefing and whatever explosive potion was used? It wasn't going to be a good mix. He knew there would be losses, how many was the question. But he expected deaths, there always were at the retaliation events, plus chaos and destruction, as much as the Death-Eaters could generate. They weren't taking Voldemort's death well and as a result were taking it out on the general population, this was the 17thevent in the 12 months since the Battle of Hogwarts.

The Wizarding world of Britain was decimated, people were leaving in droves, thanks to the war, the hundred-odd gathered at Hogwarts were pretty much the last of what was never a large society.

Now it was almost gone. Not one muggleborn was registered in the Book of Names after the 1stof May 1998. What should have been nearly a third of births registered, was not there. And even the post-war baby boom failed to appear, births were few and far between. Kingsley, personally, blamed that on the continued activities of the Death-Eaters. No one wanted to have children in a dangerous environment.

Hermione Granger blinked and sat up, snarling.

"Bloody Death-Eaters." She grimaced. "I suppose it was too much to ask that they leave us to remember our dead in peace." She looked around her, expecting to see Hogwarts in some shape, but what met her eyes was far different. She sat on a patch of lush green grass near a cliff edge, the rocks falling away sharply in front of her to reveal the ocean.

But it wasn't a Scottish cliff, the grass was too soft and lush, the sky too blue, the sun too warm, and when Hermione stood and turned in a complete circle, it was very clear that she wasn't in Scotland, anymore.

Walking away from the cliff to where the ground sloped down towards the inland areas, Hermione saw groves of trees, citrus and olive, bordered by obelisk-like cypress. But there were differences, too, most notable in the colours and shapes.

"Ok, then…" She muttered. "Somewhere in the Mediterranean? Maybe? But…? Maybe not?"

Before she took more than a few steps a glowing white light descended from the sky and twisted and stretched itself in the shape of a blue-white translucent stag. The light came to a halt in front of Hermione and bowed it's head to her before speaking.

"Hermione? Where are you?"

Hermione sighed in relief. If Harry could send a message patronus he wasn't badly injured.

"Expecto Patronum." She flicked her wand and a spiral of white emerged from it's tip, it twisted and grew until an otter sat in the air in front of her. "Message to Harry Potter." She took a deep breath. "Not sure, yet, give me a few minutes and I'll get back to you. Don't do anything." The otter chittered and swam away for a few yards, then the light flashed and the otter vanished.

Hermione began what she knew was going to be a long walk, to get to the town at the base of the cliff. While she had shrunken brooms in her beaded bag, she also had no idea whether she was in a muggle area or a Wizarding one and until she knew, she felt doing things the muggle way was the better option.

Twenty seconds later another white light appeared.

"Ah… Hermione…? We appear to be… somewhere… not Hogwarts. What happened?" Neville's tiger patronus asked.

She sighed and sent him a message-patronus in response.

"Not sure, yet, give me a few minutes and I'll get back to you. Don't do anything." The second otter chirped and vanished and Hermione resumed her march.

Less than ten seconds later…

"Hermione? Where are we? What happened _this_time?" The Irish accent of Seamus Finnegan emerged from Seamus' squirrel patronus.

Hermione huffed and lifted her wand again.

"Not sure, yet, give me a few minutes and I'll get back to you. Don't do anything." A third otter emerged and darted away.

A dozen more patronuses stopped her until she reached the base of the cliff's rise and she was getting quite annoyed with the entire situation. Finally reaching flat-ish ground, she took a deep breath and approached the small group of people resting in the shade of a tree.

"Excuse me? I appear to be a little lost. I'm hoping someone can help me?" She asked, uncertain whether anyone would even be able to understand her.

One man chattered away at her in some completely unrecognisable language and Hermione's heart sank. She spoke French and Italian, plus some Greek and Spanish, but this was no language she was familiar with.

The man patted a log stump and yelled for someone, an answering voice came from inside a stone-lined cave. The man offered Hermione a mug and a pointed towards a jug on a table. Hermione smiled and shook her head. A second man emerged from the cave and Hermione had to pinch herself.

It wasn't possible.

The second man took two steps into the light and froze.

"H-H-Hermione Granger…?" He stuttered.

"Sirius _Black_?" She asked in response, just as stunned.

The two stared at each other in shock. Finally, the first man Hermione had spoken to, waved a hand in front of Sirius' face and caught his attention. He rattled off a question and Sirius responded in the same language before turning back to Hermione.

"So… Miss Granger… What's brings you here?"

Hermione gritted her teeth and forced herself to answer.

"Bloody Death-Eaters blew up the Great Hall." She ground out.

"_What?!_" Sirius gasped. "When? How? _Why_?"

Sirius' questions were too much for Hermione and her control snapped.

"Because they're bloody _cowards_and how the hell are you _alive_? Why haven't you come back? Or at the very bloody _least_, contacted Harry? He was devastated when you went through the veil." She snarled, advancing on Sirius. Neither of them aware that the people around them had taken one look at the angry Miss Granger and disappeared into the nearby citrus orchard.

"I _tried_." He answered quickly. "I _tried_to apparate, I _tried_to send a patronus, I even went looking for an owl. Nothing worked." He back-stepped away from the obviously angry woman in front of him. "I didn't stop for days. I drained my core to the point of magical exhaustion and almost beyond it."

"What?"

"I kept pushing, Hermione, I kept sending patronus after patronus. I kept going until I passed out and the moment I woke, I did it again. I almost drained my core beyond recovery." He whispered.

"Oh…" Her eyes widened in alarm. "Are you alright, now?"

"Yeah, fully recovered." He held up one hand. "I _still_send a patronus off every morning, every one of them returned undelivered."

"I don't suppose you know where we are?" Hermione asked distractedly.

"Gondor. Or, well… Bay of Belfalas, really. Dol Amroth is just over there." Sirius pointed.

Hermione's eyes widened even further.

"Dol… Dol Amroth? Gondor?" She spluttered. "What the _hell_?"

"Yeah, I know." Sirius sighed.

"Tolkien?" Hermione asked, her voice high and squeaky.

"Tolkien." Sirius grimaced and nodded.

"Oh, bloody hell." Hermione put her hand over her face and muttered for a bit, before huffing straightening her shoulders. "Right." Her wand came out and after two quick words her otter appeared again. "Message to all Hogwarts trained magicals and their families, friends and allies." She told it. "We're in god-dammed _Middle Earth_. While I get a map, each of you is to ask a local for your location. Politely please. Charlie, George, Seamus, that means you. Ladies, don't take any crap from anyone." She turned back to Sirius. "Have you got a map or can you get one?"

"I'm a marauder. Of course I have a map." Sirius reached into a satchel-like bag strapped to his waist and pulled out a scroll of parchment.

"Good. Give it here."

Hermione opened her small, beaded bag and shoved an arm into it, all the way up to the shoulder and pulled out a bottle of ink and a quill. She placed the scroll on the nearest table and unrolled it to reveal a map. Opening the bottle of red ink, she dipped the tip of her quill in it and began to write on the map's border. Red dots appeared, quickly they spread out across the map like a swarm of round ants, dozens of them, it seemed. She tapped a corner of the map and one dot began to flash, a tap on that dot with her wand and map zooms in. Carefully she wrote her name beside the flashing dot, then Sirius' name beside a dot next to hers. Putting her wand flat on her hand, she muttered and her wand spins, points in easterly direction and bobs twice.

"Right." She says again, reaching into bag again and pulling out two shrunken brooms, which enlarge immediately. "I hope you can fly." Handing one broom to Sirius, she points. "We're going that way."

"Ah… what's that way?"

"Harry."

Harry Potter paced back and forth in front of a stream, muttering about bloody Death-Eaters and pointless attacks, while he waits for Hermione Granger to work out what the hell is going on and where they've been portkeyed to.

Suddenly there's a thump and a cry of "_Harry!_" and Harry's knocked to the ground by a great big… something.

"What the _fuck_?" Harry splutters trying to get the something off him.

Hermione waves her wand and the something is lifted into the air, yelping. It's a massive, horse-sized Grimm, that after writhing in the air for a few moments, turns into Sirius Black. A very much alive, Sirius Black.

Harry is left light-headed and wondering if he's hallucinating.

"_Oi!_" Sirius yells in protest.

"Behave, Padfoot." Hermione responds.

"What the _fuck_?" Harry asks again.

"Apparently when Sirius fell through the veil, he landed here. He was the one who told me where we are." Hermione answers, even as she reaches out and smacks Harry over the back of the head. "And mind your language, Harry."

"Who else is here?' Sirius asks, bouncing on his toes.

"So far… I've received patronus messages from George, Neville, Luna, Seamus, Dean, Draco, Daphne, Padma and Pavarti, Angelina, Katie and Alicia, Ernie, Oliver, Percy and Penny, Lee, Cormac, Hannah and Sue, Charlie and Bill, Minerva, Andi and Arthur." Mione answers as yet another patronus arrives.

"Would you be so kind as to tell me _who_this is? And _why_you think we are in a _book?_" An owl says in a vaguely familiar voice.

Siri grins at the blank looks on Harry and Hermione's faces.

"What? Who was that?" Harry asks.

"That, my dear godson, was Remus' patronus." Sirius smirked.

"_Remus?_" Hermione asked, blinking.

"But… but he's _dead!_" Harry squawks.

"What? When?" Sirius demands.

"He died in the Battle of Hogwarts, the final battle against Voldemort." Hermione explains.

"He died?" Siri sits down quickly.

"A year ago." Harry answers, his breath hitching.

"Made Harry his son's godfather." Hermione smirked at Harry.

"Moony has a _kid?_" Sirius spluttered and his eyes rolled back in his head and he collapsed backwards onto the grass.

"Wuss." Harry huffed, nudging him with a foot.

Another patronus drifts down out of the sky, Harry and Hermione look at each other in shock. This patronus…? It's a stag, just like Harry's.

"Hello? Who is this?" A man's voice asks.

"Is that…?" Harry asks, holding his breath.

"I would say no… he's dead… but if Remus…?" Hermione answers without actually answering.

"So…?" Harry's voice cracked.

"Quite probably…" Hermione sighed.

There's a thump as Harry hits the ground beside his godfather.

"Men." Hermione huffs. "_Expecto patronum_." Her otter appeared again. "Message to James Potter." She takes a breath. "My name is Hermione Granger and I am the seneschal to House Potter. Give me your location and The Potter will come to you." The otter darts away.

Approximately ninety seconds later the stag was back.

"Seneschal Granger, thank you for the prompt reply. Currently we are in Tharbad on the River Greyflood, north-west of Dunland. We eagerly await the arrive of The Potter… How many beings can we expect?" Was the semi-formal reply.

"Expecto Patronum." Another otter appears. "Reply to James Potter." The otter nods. "At this point, those under The Potter's protection number approximately 90 beings, but currently we only have contact with about a third of them. That is subject change, rapidly. After the arrival of The Potter, with your permission, apparition co-ordinates with be sent to The Potter's vassals, subordinates and allies." The otter huffed and swam upwards before flash of light heralded it's disappearance.

"Oww, my head… Hermione? Did I hear someone mention James Potter?" Sirius muttered holding his head.

"You did." Hermione pulled out the map and began hunting for Dunland, finding it she looked to the north-west and found the River Greyflood and a dot marked Thurbad. She tapped it with her finger. "How in hell do I work out apparition co-ordinates? This map doesn't have latitude and longitude, dammit." She muttered.

The stag ran down from the sky again and came to a halt in front of a stunned Sirius Black, a still collapsed Harry Potter and a impatiently waiting Hermione Granger.

"Seneschal Granger, I've just be… _reminded_… loudly, that I should give you apparition co-ordinates. 41.886 north, by 117.256 west. Our home is to the south-east of town and looks not-unlike a timber version of the Portcullis Keep. Co-ordinates should place you in the field to the south of the house. We welcome The Potter and all under his banner."

"But- but- but-" Seemed to be the only thing Sirius could say.

"Yeah, that happened." Hermione turned Harry and pointed her wand at him. "Aguamenti."

A jet water shot out drenched the younger man, he sat up swaying.

"Mione?" He whispered. "Did I imagine it?"

"No, Harry, you did not." She answered clearly. "Now, get up and come here. Sirius, you too." Both men quickly obeyed. "Good boys." She patted Sirius on the head like a dog, while Harry got her fingers running through his hair. "Well, I don't think anybody can expect your hair to be neatly combed."

"Nope, not going to happen, even when it's just _been_combed." Harry grinned.

"Right." Hermione sighed. "Let's go." She twisted and with a loud CRACK, the stream bank is left empty.

Roughly 800 miles to the north-west a similar CRACK was heard.

"Sirius, you take Harry, go up to the house. I'll see to the others." Hermione ordered.

"Yes, ma'am." Sirius grabbed Harry's arm and dragged the still stunned man away.

Hermione turned so that her back was to the house, she had a lot of people still to co-ordinate and she wanted no distractions. Once her otter was floating in the air in front of her, she began.

"Message to all Hogwarts trained magicals and their families, friends and allies." The otter nods. "DA by rank, then name. Count of five and apparate to the following co-ordinates. 41.886 north, by 117.256 west, repeat 41.886 north, by 117.256 west. If you're not a DA member but are with one, apparate with them. If you're not a DA member, please wait and I'll send another patronus once the DA's assembled. I have a map very similar to the Marauder's Map, so I can be certain all our people are accounted for. Begin." The otter bounded away.

Hermione took ten steps towards the house and turned back to the apparition point.

"One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten." She started to count as soon as her otter vanished.

The first CRACK, happened, followed closely by a second.

"Over here, behind me, guard the house." She called to Luna and Neville.

"What the hell, Hermione?" Neville thundered as he reached her and spun to face the field.

"Sorry, Neville, long story, only want to go over it once. Please?"

CRACKs began to sound, one every five seconds. Alicia Spinnet, Angelina Johnson, Colin Creevey, Dean Thomas, Dennis Creevey, Ernie Macmillian, Fred and George Weasley, Hannah Abbott, Katie Bell, Lavender Brown, Lee Jordon, Padma and Pavarti Patil, Seamus Finnegan and lastly Susan Bones.

"Over here, please. We still have people unaccounted for." Hermione called. As one, the 15 members of the DA took their places around Hermione. "Expecto Pat-" She paused. "Hold on." She looked from Fred to George and back, before her gaze swung around to see Lavender standing behind Padma and Pavarti, with Colin Creevey standing beside his brother. "Lavender? Colin? Fred?" She whispered.

"Later, Sarge." George wouldn't even glance at his twin, not with people outstanding. "We've people still unaccounted for."

Hermione drew in a deep breath. "Right." Her wand flicked out and her otter emerged, looking a bit rumpled. "Sorry, not done yet." The patronus creature huffed and tilted it's head.

"Message to all Hogwarts trained magicals and their families, friends and allies, not already assembled." The otter sat up straighter. "DA assembled. For everyone else we're going in alphabetical order, descending by first name, or by more accurately by known name. If multiple people, then apparate on first person's name. Delay of five seconds between each letter. There's plenty of space here, don't worry about overlapping, just apparate on your letter. Start in five seconds from… Now!"

One. Two. Three. Four. Five.

CRACK, CRACK, CRACK.

"Ah? Hello? Andi, Arthur. Over here, quickly." Hermione called.

Amelia Bones and Arthur hurried over while Andi held little Teddy close to her body, blood oozing from her other arm.

"Andi. Freeze!"

CRACK, CRACK, CRACK.

"Bill, Fleur, Gabrielle, help Andi, bring her and Teddy over here." The tall redhead man said nothing, just grasped Andi's arm with one hand, while using the other to slide his baby daughter, Victoire from his sister-in-law's arms. Gabrielle and Fleur took one look at the assembled DA and bolted for them.

CRACK, CRACK

"Charlie. Cormac. Over here." Both men shrugged and jogged over to the group.

A few seconds passed.

CRACK, CRACK.

"Daphne, Draco, this way."

"What the hell Granger? Am I seeing double, there's two George's. What's going on?"

"A lot of shit. When everyone's here, I'll explain as much as I know."

"Right."

CRACK, CRACK.

"Professors, over here, please." Minerva McGonagall and Filius Flitwick looked around with interested, Minerva's hand coming up to her throat when she caught sight of Colin, Fred and Lavender.

CRACK.

"Oliver!" Fred and George yelled together, throwing their arms wide.

"My Bludgers!" Oliver yelled back and sprinted towards them, the three coming together in a tangle of arms and legs as they hit the ground.

"Men." Hermione huffed. Padma, Pavarti and Lavender, attempted to smother their laughter at Hermione's expression.

CRACK, CRACK.

"Percy, over here, mate." Fred called, climbing to his feet.

"Fred?" Percy shook his head, thinking his eyes were playing tricks on him.

"Yeah, perfect Percy, it's me." The two brothers clung to each other.

CRACK, CRACK.

"Tonks! Remus!" Hermione had to yell to be heard over the chattering DA. "Here." Tonks saw Andi and headed straight for her and Teddy.

CRACK.

"Viktor. This way." Hermione turned towards the house.

She'd barely taken two steps when someone screamed and a blur of red hair flew towards them. Remus' werewolf driven reflexes and strength were challenged when it came to catching the blur and staying on his feet. He spun in place for a few seconds before he got a chance to look at what had hit him.

Lily Potter looked up at him.

Remus looked down at her.

His eyes rolled back in his head and he hit the ground, dragging her down with him.

A booming laugh was heard, before a rich voice called out "Aguamenti" and a jet of water hit the werewolf in the face, drenching both he and Lily.

"James!" She screamed.

"Lily!" Remus leapt to his feet the small woman still clasped in his arms. He laughed for a second before catching sight of Harry, James and Sirius. "What the-" He gasped. "Will some please explain what's going on?" He looked around.

"I have a theory…" Hermione answered. "… and I don't think anyone's going to like it."

An hour later, solemn faces looked at solemn faces around a magical enlarged table. Not even the babble of a thirteen month old baby could change that.

"So you think… we're dead." Bill summarised.

"Yeah." Hermione sighed.

"That's going to be the last straw for Magical Britain." Minerva's shoulders slumped.

"It will be." Andi agreed.

"That's not a bad thing, really." Arthur added. When he got blank looks he went on. "With no magicals to stop them, the Death-Eaters are likely to start targeting Muggles. That's not going to go well. They're ready to step in, but don't want to interfere. This last month, Kingsley, Percy, Minerva, Amos and Pius Thicknesse have been meeting with the muggle authorities almost daily. Their Minister… What's his name again, Hermione?"

"Tony. Tony Blair, Arthur."

"Oh, right, thank you." Arthur tried to smile, but failed. "Well, Mr Blair has been trying to get Kingsley to accept the Queen's offer to relocate the remains of Diagon Alley and the British Wizarding world. So far, he's been resisting. But... if we're dead? It might be enough to change that. If that happens, there's nothing to stop the muggle military from stepping in."

That made people stop and think and slowly they broke into small groups, chatting and getting reacquainted. Fred and George were tormenting Oliver and James, by telling them that Harry had given up quidditch. Minerva was telling Lily all about the trouble that Harry and his friends had got into at Hogwarts. Draco and Neville adding things that Minerva didn't know.

"Hermione?" A voice at her shoulder, asked.

"Yes…?" She answered.

"That map? What did you do to it?" Sirius asked, Remus at his side.

"Map?" James was distracted from the quidditch nightmare the twins were trying to give him.

"Yes."

Hermione pulled out the map she'd gotten from Sirius and flattened it out on the table. In the middle of the map there was a blood red blot, deep and large, but off to one side a single dot sat.

"What about this dot? Is that one of yours?" James asked, pointing at it.

Hermione looked at it, frowning. She sat up.

"DA." She snapped loudly, silencing the room. "Who are we missing? And who didn't speak up about it?" Her voice was strong, but not hard or cold.

"Oh gods…" George whispered.

"What?" Harry asked.

"Ollivander…" George whispered.

All the young people sat up in hurry, as one they turned to Harry.

"Mione. Map? Location?"

"East, approximately 200 miles, edge of the mountains. I need a better map, if you want more detail." Hermione answered.

"Here." James laid a larger map on the table. "This shows Eregion from the Greyflood to the edge of the Misty Mountains and the Gates of Moria."

"Great."

Hermione thrust her arm into her bag and pulled out a quill and a bottle of ink. Quickly, she set about writing on a small strip that ran around the edge of the map. The dots began to appear, all grouped together, all but one. That one small, lonely dot sat off to the east, on the edge of the mountains. Hermione tapped the dot and a small square expanded, still connected to the dot, via a thin strand of ink. In that square tiny lines of writing began to form, giving all sorts of information.

"He's alive, uninjured, but unconscious, doesn't have his wand on him. It's close by, only a few feet away, but it's lower than he is, closer to sea level, I mean. No restraints, but he's still restrained. Not sure how that is." She reported, after reading the information.

"Right." Harry stood, looked up at the ceiling for a moment, before snapping out orders. "Let's go get him. I think a small squad. Six people should be enough." Everyone raised a hand. "No. We don't need to expend resources unnecessarily." He studied them all. "Neville, Draco, Susan. You three have been working as a team for eight months, now. You're up. Fred, you've been out of the loop for a bit. George, how much can you give him via your link? And how fast?"

Fred blinked in shock, at hearing that George had spoken about their link.

"Everything, Harry and fast." George answered.

"Good give it to him. I need you out there, you and Angelina, but Ron's not here, so the faster you share the last year with Fred, the better. You have five minutes. Go." George pulled Fred to his feet and dragged him from the house. Looking through the window, those inside could see the twins standing with their foreheads touching, every now and then Fred would flinch, but that was the only reaction.

"Harry?" A soft sweet voice echoed in the silence.

"Yes, Luna?" when Luna spoke like that, everyone listened.

"Take James, Remus and Sirius with you. Ollivander will tell you about someone that needs us more than he does."

"Huh…" Harry didn't even blink, he just turned to the three men, he looked them up and down, before pulling out his own small bag. He laid it on the table and opened the drawstring to it's largest width and reached into it's depths. He pulled out a matchbox sized trunk that he placed on the floor. Touching the lock, he enlarged the trunk to a similar size to the table and lifted the lid. From inside he pulled out three tightly tied bundles, that he handed to the three men.

"Go get changed." He ordered.

"Ah… Harry? What if these don't fit?" James asked. "We're not really the same size." He said looking from the short 5'6" Harry to the 6'2" Remus Lupin.

"Doesn't matter… Dad. Press a finger to the buckle at the throat and the one at the waist and both trousers and robe will resize to fit. I'll have boots out by the time you get back. Move." Harry's voice tolerated no arguments.

"Right. Going." Sirius dumped his bundle in Remus' arms and grabbed hold of both Remus and James and dragged them into a smaller anteroom.

"How bad is this going to be, Luna?"

"Not bad, just complicated. Draco, Neville and Susan will bring Mr Ollivander back here. While Fred, George and Angelina go with you. James, Sirius and Remus need to go with you, they need to see who you've become. And don't forget, at some point you have to call Dobby, Winky and Kreacher."

"They're here, too?"

"I'm… not… sure… But if you call them, they will be. I think that's how it works." Luna frowned slightly.

James, Sirius and Remus re-entered the room at the same time as Fred and George.

"Ready, boss." George said, while Fred just looked at Harry, a slight look of awe in his eyes.

"Better get over that, fast, Fred. Harry won't put up with it." Luna warned.

The non-DA members looked a little confused.

"You and Mione bring them up to speed. Ladies? Gentlemen? Let's go get our wand maker." Harry headed out the door, but paused as he reached on it's threshold. "Luna can you check Mione's notes on the permanent de-aging potion? It might be useful for Ollivander."

"Hmm… alright." Luna nodded.

Two and half hours passed before Draco, Neville and Susan returned with an only slightly battered Ollivander. The old wand-maker told them of his waking, of being disorientated, of his interaction with a group of short, heavily bearded, heavily armed men, that were headed higher into the mountains. Then it was uneven ground and a single loss of footing saw him

tumbling over the edge of mountain trail and loosing his wand. For nearly two hours he struggled to reach it. He'd received the patronus messages like everyone else, but had been unable to respond. He'd just about reached the point of despair when a series of apparition CRACKs alerted him to what turned out to be a group of ten people, four of which he knew to be dead.

The waiting DA patched up the old man, healing his injuries and feeding him. Like many others that survived the war, Ollivander carried his life in a trunk these days. His entire store, every wand, every core, every piece of wand-wood sat in a carefully crafted wizard-space room in his expanded trunk. He'd assured Hermione and Luna that he would happily take their de-aging potion, when they had it ready, and that in the mean time he would begin to work on some custom wands for the DA and it's new allies.

But still the group waited for Harry and his teams. Another hour slipped by before the CRACKs of their arrival were heard.

"Well?" Hermione asked as Harry entered the room.

"Oh my God, Lils. There's so much we have to learn." James flopped onto the bench beside his wife. "Harry's… Oh… my… God… Harry's amazing. I've never seen anyone fight like he does. He's…" James trailed off.

"Amazing?" Lily asked.

"Yeah…" James sighed, and he was echoed by most of the DA.

"Enough, guys. I just do what has to be done." Harry objected.

"Yes, that's true, but it's how you go about that people find amazing when they see for the first time." Hermione first agreed, then argued.

"As long as he teaches us how he does it, I won't argue the point." Sirius begged.

"I'll teach anyone who wants to learn." Harry assured him.

"Great." Sirius leant back against the wall and just watched the group in front of him.

"I wonder what's happening back at Hogwarts? How people are taking this?" Andi mused.

"In all honesty…?" Harry asked. "I don't want to know… I was done, I was going to tell people that I was leaving, I was taking Blair's offer. I just wanted out. I was tired of fighting a war that was already lost."

The members of the DA and their newly recovered allies all nodded.

"I think with us gone, either dead or missing, they'll take Blair offer, too. Kingsley will guide them, they don't need us anymore." Hermione added.

Harry held out a hand to her. "Time for us to make a new life for ourselves." He said, when she placed her hand in his.

"It is." Sirius agreed, smiling at his godson's happy face. "Are you going to tell them about the dwarves?"

"Yeah, I suppose I should. What was his name? Tharin? Thoren? Thorin? Anyway he's looking for allies to help reclaim their homeland. Not now but in a few years. I told him where we were, he suggested that we more a bit further north, better land up north. Somewhere along the East Road, between Weathertop at Amun Sul and the Hoarwell River. He said there's few small settlements along the way and we could trade with the humans from Bree or the High elves from Rivendell. But like he said, no hurry, he's not planning on making a move for a few years. Could ten years, could be twenty years, but if Hermione gets that potion right? Ten years, twenty years, fifty years, it won't really make much difference."

"When can we talk to him about it?" Hermione asked.

"He'll be back passed early summer, if we're here he'll meet with us. If we're not, he'll send an emissary along the East Road in autumn." Harry answered.

"Good. That will give me time to make a list of what we need to know, if we're going to get involved in domestic affairs." Suddenly Hermione's head lifted. "Thorin. His name is Thorin. And I think I have the books. If I do, I'll copy them, we should all read them, so we know what we're getting into."

There were a few snickers.

"No, guys, I mean it. Thorin and his heirs are killed reclaiming their home. I don't know whether we can even change anything at all. I mean, it a bloody book universe, for heaven's sake. How do we tell?" Hermione fretted.

"Mione? Easy, Mione. We can only speak to him. If we decide to help, we'll do our best to keep everyone alive. We always do." He lifted his head to look at the others in the room. "Right?"

"Right!" Was the resounding reply.


End file.
